New State/Local Data for December 2008
Increasing Numbers of Homeless Students
Edweek reports that school districts across the country are enrolling growing numbers of homeless children, as parents lose their jobs, leases, and mortgages in what many observers are calling the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Many districts were already seeing a spike in homeless enrollments last spring, when the subprime-mortgage crisis began unfolding. But this fall’s numbers are rising at an even faster clip as more families feel the fallout of a stumbling economy. Organizations that provide information and advocacy on homeless students include: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, First Focus, and the National Center for Homeless Education. A recent analysis by First Focus, a Washington-based advocacy group for children and families, estimated that 2.2 million foreclosures on subprime home mortgages will affect 2 million children nationwide in the next two years. It noted that many more children will likely end up homeless as their parents default on conventional loans or are evicted from rental units whose landlords have defaulted. In Colorado, an estimated 39,000 children will be homeless in 2008/2009, based on foreclosure data and data from the Center for Responsible Lending.
Income, Education and Obesity: A Closer Look at Inequities in Colorado's Obesity Problem
The Colorado Health Foundation released a report showing that the obesity epidemic has the greatest impact on low-income families and people with less education. The report found that these Coloradans have higher rates of obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma than their middle- and upper-income counterparts. Obesity rates among adults who did not graduate from high school are 11% higher than those who attended four or more years of college. The rate is eight percent higher among Coloradans who make less than $25,000 a year than those who make more than $75,000. There are even greater disparities among children. Those in families that make less than $25,000 a year are three times as likely to be obese than children whose families make more than $75,000 a year. This is particularly worrisome as more Colorado children slip into poverty. This report is an extension of the Foundation’s Colorado Health Report Card, which provides a benchmark for measuring progress on some of the state’s most pressing health issues.
Policy Map
A new resource that allows users to generate maps, tables and graphs on real estate and mortgage conditions, demographic variables, employment, education, health and many other indicators for most states in the US, including Colorado. Many functions are available with a free registration to the site; more advanced options require a paid subscription.
Climate Change in Colorado: A Synthesis to Support Water Resources Management and Adaptation
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) released this report in connection with the Governor’s Conference on Managing Drought and Climate Risk. The report focuses on observed trends and projections of temperature, precipitation, snow and runoff. The report gives water resource managers a synthesis of the best scientific knowledge of what is expected for Colorado’s climate over the next few decades to help them plan now for drought and adaptation to climate change. See also the Climate Change in Colorado Fact Sheet. This new scientific assessment of Colorado climate change was prepared by the Western Water Assessment (WWA), a University of Colorado-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration partnership, and included scientists from the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, the CU Cooperative Institute for Research into Environmental Sciences, and Colorado State University Colorado Climate Center.
TPL LandVote Database 2008 Updates
The TPL LandVote® Database provides a dynamic interface for in-depth research on conservation ballot measures. It contains tables and graphs detailing conservation ballot measures by state, finance mechanism, and jurisdiction type, and will also allow for customizable queries and research requests. The TPL LandVote® Mapping System uses geographic information systems (GIS) technology to map the locations of these ballot measures and illustrate election trends. In Colorado, 2 local measures were proposed: Basalt (bond issue for open space and parks-failed); and Summit County (property tax increase for natural areas acquisition, wildfire protection, and other green initiatives-passed).
National Reports with Local Relevance:
2007 National Survey of Latinos
The Pew Hispanic Trust has released the 2007 National Survey of Latinos, conducted via landline telephones and cell phones from October 3, 2007 through November 9, 2007 among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 Latino respondents ages 18 and older. This coincided with a period of increased local- and state-level legislative actions, and stepped-up enforcement measures that accompanied the growing national debate over illegal immigration.
In order to capture Hispanic perceptions in the presence of increased public attention, the survey included new questions regarding such issues as fears of deportation and attitudes about enforcement policies. In addition, questions that have been asked in prior Pew Hispanic Center surveys regarding such topics as attitudes towards immigrants and perceptions of discrimination were also included. The database is available for download, and documentation files are also available.
Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet?
Low-income households tend to consume less nutritious diets than other households, and they do not meet Federal recommendations for consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. Relative to other households, low-income households must allocate higher shares of their income and time to food if they want to consume palatable, nutritious meals. For many Americans, achieving an affordable healthy diet will require a shift from less nutritious food to nutrient-dense foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Household Food Security in the United States, 2007
A new USDA ERS report finds that 89% of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2007, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (11.1%) were food insecure at least some time during the year. About one-third of food insecure households (4.1% of all U.S. households) had very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security were essentially unchanged from those in 2005 and 2006.
Dynamic Maps of Bank Card and Mortgage Delinquencies in the US
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has mapped data on bank card and mortgage delinquencies for all counties in the US (with the exception of the smallest 10 percent of the counties by population, since small population statistics are prone to extreme values and erratic fluctuations). Data are obtained from the credit reporting agency, TransUnion, LLC and its Trend Data database. Data shown are for the most recent quarter available (currently the 2nd quarter 2008), as well as the change over the previous 4 quarters, and are as follows:
- Bank card delinquency rate 60+ days - Percentage of bank cards delinquent for 60+ days where bank cards are defined as credit card accounts available at banks and repayable in installments.
- Mortgage delinquency rate 90+ days - Percentage of mortgage loans delinquent for 90+ days where mortgage debt is defined as debt on credit secured by residential real estate.
North American Transportation Statistics Database
This on-line database presents information on transportation and transportation-related activities among Canada, the United States and Mexico, both within individual countries and between the countries. This database is accessible in table and time series formats, and covers twelve thematic areas including; transportation and the economy, transportation safety, transportation's impact on energy and the environment, passenger and freight activity, and transportation and trade.
The database currently contains 31 tables with additions planned for the future, and allows users to obtain both value data in any of the three national currencies and volume data in metric or U.S. measurement units via the time series function. Data in table or time series format can be printed or downloaded for further processing and analysis. For most tables, data are available for 1990, 1995 to 2004, with some data through 2007. The data will be updated on a regular basis.
2008 Farm Act: Where Will the Money Go?
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Act), enacted into law in June 2008, will govern the bulk of Federal agriculture and related programs for the next 5 years. The Act’s 15 titles include administrative and funding authorities for programs that cover income and commodity price support, farm credit, risk management, conservation, export promotion, international food assistance and agricultural development, domestic nutritional assistance (including food stamps), rural development, agriculture and food sector research, accessibility and sustainability of forests, agricultural and rural renewable energy sources, and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
According to Congressional Budget Office projections, over two-thirds of Farm Act-related spending will not go to farmers in fiscal years (FY) 2008-17, but to food and nutrition programs to help low-income Americans purchase food, and provide food to programs that serve children and the elderly. Less than a third of the funding (spending) in the legislation will benefit farmers through commodity programs, crop insurance, and conservation programs. The remainder (1 percent) goes to all of the other programs, such as trade promotion, farm credit, research, and energy programs. These and other USDA programs are also funded in part by annual appropriations and other legislation.
ARMS Farm Business and Household Survey Data
The annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is the only national survey that provides observations of field-level farm practices, the economics of the farm businesses operating the field (or dairy herd, green house, nursery, poultry house, etc.), and the characteristics of the American farm household (age, education, occupation, farm and off-farm work, types of employment, family living expenses, etc.)—all collected in a representative sample. ARMS has been updated with estimates on 2007 finances, structure, and characteristics of U.S. farm businesses and farm households. ARMS data inform USDA, congressional, administration, and industry decision makers when weighing alternative policies and programs that touch the farm sector or affect farm families.
US Farm Income Forecast for 2008
Net farm income is forecast to be $86.9 billion in 2008, little changed from the record $86.8 billion farmers are estimated to have earned in 2007, and 42% above the 10-year average of $61.1 billion. Net cash income, at $90.7 billion, is forecast to be $3.3 billion (4%) above 2007 and 33% above its 10-year average of $68 billion. Net cash income is projected to rise more than net farm income because of the carryover of 2007 crops, which are being sold in 2008.
USDA indicates that a large increase in the value of crop production is offset by rising production costs for the farm sector. The value of crop production, at $181 billion, is forecast to exceed the 2007 record by $30 billion, or 20%. Income performance will not be the same across all farms. In 2008, current commodity and input forecasts indicate that incomes will likely be lower for cotton, specialty crop, and livestock operations. Unlike the situation for grains and oilseeds, receipts on these farms are not expected to rise enough from 2007 levels to offset increases in expenses.
Updated Monday, August 29, 2011
